More than 200 Palestinians were killed in overnight Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-ruled enclave's Ministry of Health said, as Hamas accused Israel of violating a fragile ceasefire deal.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had ordered the aerial attacks after Hamas’s “repeated refusal” to release the remaining hostages it holds. “This is just the beginning,” he said.

The death toll rose to more than 400, Gazan authorities said, marking one of the deadliest days since the war began. The attacks came after a breakdown in talks to release hostages.